Jewels that dazzle the brightest

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Theres a whole host of fabulous places to stay, but how do they rate? Nick Redman finds out

BARBADOS is encircled by beaches, but it is one stretch of the west coast which always grabs the headlines: dubbed “the platinum coast” after the credit cards flexed here, it is a string of five-star resorts and private villas fronting the pale, powdery sands where the parish of St James meets the millpond Caribbean.

A decade or so ago, many of its hotels were caught in a complacent timewarp of tired decor and unremarkable cuisine, while the Indian Ocean began its slow but sure ascendancy. Then, in 2001, a new, super-luxe reconstruction of Sandy Lane — the legendary 1960s/1970s superstar